Many servers, supercomputers and other monster systems thrive on high-speed RAM to keep things running smoothly, but this memory is wildly expensive -- and that limits not just the number of nodes in these clusters, but who can use them. MIT researchers may have a much more affordable approach in the future, though. They've built a server network (not shown here) that drops RAM in favor of cheaper and slower flash storage, yet performs just about as well. The key was to get the flash drives themselves (or specifically, their controllers) to pre-process some of the data, instead of making the CPUs do all the hard work. That doesn't completely close the speed gap, but the differences are virtually negligible. In one test, 20 servers with 20TB of flash were about as fast as 40 servers with 10TB of RAM.

The MIT Media Lab and two bitcoin experts have unveiled a prototype encryption system that lets you share it with a third party (or be computed with), without anyone else decrypting it. It means untrusted computers could still be tasked with dealing with sensitive data, but without putting said data at any risk. The trick is called homomorphic encryption, which MIT's Guy Zyskind compares to a black box: "You send whatever data you want, and it runs in the black box and only returns the result. The actual data is never revealed." It does this by hacking up the data into pieces and randomly spreading parts across hundreds of computers in the Enigma (the name of the prototype) network.

The days of waiting anxiously for bug fixes (assuming they come at all) might soon be over. MIT developers have built a system, CodePhage, that automatically patches flaws by borrowing features from other apps. The tool scans apps to see how they perform security checks, and imports any superior techniques it finds -- whether or not they're written in the same programming language. It doesn't need access to the source code to see what makes something tick, and it'll even check that any fixes are working the way you'd expect. While this is still early and likely wouldn't address every glitch, the hope is that you'll get software which perpetually improves itself. You wouldn't have to worry about security exploits so long as they've been fixed in at least one other program.

Imagine how much easier it would be if first responders could search inside collapsed buildings, or if police could scope out a suspect's room for danger before breaking in. That's the driving force behind the Explorer, a tactical ball equipped with cameras, LED lights and sensors designed to do exactly that. The idea here is that you could simply roll the ball into a room and the six built-in cameras would snap a slew of photos. The software then quickly and intelligently stitches them together in a panorama and, thanks to a built-in wireless hotspot, transmits the image back to your phone, potentially warning you of trapped survivors or dangerous gunmen.

Thanks to Elsa's freezing powers lasers and some advanced techniques, a team of MIT scientists has managed to freeze a molecule to 500 nanokelvins: a temp that's nearly absolute zero. Not zero degrees Fahrenheit, but absolute zero, which is around -459.67 degrees F -- a lot colder than the cold parts of space. See, in their natural state, molecules vibrate, rotate and generally move in a frantic pace like interns working for Miranda Priestly. By cooling them down to the point that they're barely able to move, scientists can form previously unseen states of matter. According to MIT physics professor Martin Zwierlein: "...with ultracold molecules, you can get a huge variety of different states of matter, like superfluid crystals, which are crystalline, yet feel no friction, which is totally bizarre. This has not been observed so far, but predicted. We might not be far from seeing these effects, so we're all excited."

At the DARPA Robotics Challenge last week, a robot drove in on a red UTV. The vehicle slowly came to a halt on the obstacle course as it reached the door of a simulated disaster building. The driver, a six-foot-two Atlas humanoid, sat motionless for many minutes. About half a dozen researchers wearing blue "TEAM MIT" vests looked on, like anxious parents waiting for their child to pick up the pace in a crucial race. When their robot eventually turned its body to get out of the vehicle, it shook uncontrollably for seconds before it leaped out of the car and fell flat on its face. The crowd collectively gasped and a loud aww rippled through the stands at Fairplex in Pomona, California. In that moment, one of the front-runners in the race became the underdog.

MIT's scientists spent years making the Cheetah robot a more efficient runner. Now that's done, its creators probably thought it was time to give it a major upgrade: the metal quadruped can now autonomously jump over hurdles like a trained horse. Yes, it can automatically detect and leap over multiple objects while it runs -- even without a tether. The scientists claim it's the "first four-legged robot" to be able to do so, and we'll bet they'll train it further to leap over much higher walls, as well as give future machines the same ability. Now where can we hide?

MIT recently unveiled -- or rather, unfurled -- an unusual drone specimen. The tiny robot weighs a third of a gram and is just 1.7 cm long. It starts its existence as a flat, paper or polystyrene wafer. When activated with a small heat source, the drone folds itself up into the complex shape you see above and can begin moving (or swimming!) at a rate of 3 cm/sec.

Take a picture through a window and you'll often find you've captured more of your own reflection than the scene outside. You can solve the problem with a black cloth and a polarizing filter, but that's not ideal for the majority of smartphone snappers out there. That's why researchers at MIT are about to present a new software-based solution that, they believe, can "fix" the problem, but only if the window that you're shooting through is double-glazed.

The standard line about solar power is that while good in theory, the technology just isn't there to keep our lights on and our Netflix streaming. But a new study from MIT (PDF) suggests that's not the case. According to the massive report (an epic 356 pages) current crystalline silicon photovoltaic technology is capable of delivering terawatt-scale power by 2050. That would be many times larger than Topaz facility California that generates 550 megawatts. While there is certainly room for improvement in efficiency, the MIT study says that the biggest hurdle isn't tech, it's investment. The authors called out the lack of funding for research and development, but focused more on poor governmental policies. Subsidies generally go to other energy sources, like oil and natural gas, and trade policies set by the federal government have driven up prices by restricting imports of cheaper solar parts in order to boost domestic production.

Forget those teensy deep-sea submersibles cradling crews of brave scientists -- the future of underwater exploration might be led by robots that can do their own thing. MIT engineers, led by professor Brian Williams, cooked up a system that lets autonomous underwater drones figure out and act on the nitty-gritty details of their missions without the need for meticulously laid-out plans.

While air travel is quicker and safer than driving, it's also louder. The continuous low-frequency drone of the engines is why some people invest in noise-canceling headphones. To help reduce that non-stop hum, researchers at North Carolina State University and MIT have developed a thin membrane to be inserted into the lightweight honeycomb structure of planes and helicopters. "At low frequencies – sounds below 500 Hertz – the honeycomb panel with the membrane blocks 100 to 1,000 times more sound energy than the panel without a membrane." said Yun Jing, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at NC State University. The 0.25mm-thick membrane would only add an additional six percent to the overall weight of the honeycomb structure of aircraft. While that doesn't seem like much, every ounce counts to airlines trying to maximize flight costs. It'll be on them to decide whether they'd rather save money on fuel or makes cabins a better place for passengers.

Several companies are working on eye-tracking tech as a way to navigate devices. A team of MIT researchers, however, have their eyes set on another body part: the thumbnail. Graduate students Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao and Artem Dementyev are developing a tiny trackpad that fits over your thumbnail. They're calling it NailO, and it was inspired by colorful nail stickers popular in Kao's native Taiwan and many other Asian countries. The duo envisions NailO to be used in situations where both your hands are occupied -- for instance, you can use it to scroll down a website page to check recipes while cooking. They also think it could be used to control other wearables, such as smart jewelry.

It's tough identifying Parkinson's disease in its early stages -- there are no standard lab tests to diagnose it and symptoms are subtle. A group of MIT researchers believe the answer could lie in something a lot of people already use: the computer keyboard. They've recently conducted a study proving that people with conditions affecting motor function have different typing patterns than those who don't. To be exact, the researchers designed plug-in software to measure how long subjects pressed each key before releasing it. Those with impaired motor skills ended up pressing keys for a longer duration.

If you're teaching kids how to code, what do you do to show that software makes an impact in the real world? MIT has a clever idea: a robot garden. The project lets you control a grid of Arduino-linked "plants" through programming that makes them blossom and light up in pretty (and occasionally mesmerizing) ways. It'll even teach the virtues of distributed computing -- you can tell these leafy robots to bloom or change color in algorithm-driven sequences. The garden is just a demo for now, but it'll eventually turn into an easy-to-replicate curriculum for students who'd otherwise have to settle for seeing their results on-screen.

Screw meals in pill form. We'll know we're living in the future when our furniture can assemble itself at will. It's something that MITand others are working on, and the most recent work from the university's self-assembly lab shows how far the process has come. Before you chuck that IKEA catalog, however, you should probably be aware of one small thing: the self-assembling chair you see before you is just 15cm tall. Also, it's clearly submerged in water, so it's not very practical unless you're furnishing a new condo in Atlantica.

We hope you remember this tiny machine in the far future (while in a high-tech hotel served by a cadre of robots), because this might be how "auto-zippers" begin. Part of a project called Sartorial Robots, which an MIT student started a couple of years ago, this teensy contraption was designed to close zippers as it travels along their surface. It's obviously not small enough to zip your fly up right now, but it can already work on sleeves, jackets or random patterns of cloth with zippers attached. Now, some you of you might be thinking: "If you're too lazy to zip up your own damn jeans, then you've got serious problems." True, but the technology could be used on clothes for people who actually need it: quadriplegics, amputees or those with illnesses that affect one's motor skills. It could also be used on hazmat suits -- or even dresses, because sometimes a woman wants to get dressed without turning into a contortionist in the process.

Brain implants are limited right now -- they typically measure just one thing at a time, and their stiff wiring can wreck tissue if the device stays in place for long enough. Neither of those problems will matter if MIT's flexible fiber implant becomes a practical reality, though. The school's researchers have developed very thin (almost nanoscale), flexible polymer fibers that have customizable channels for carrying chemicals, electricity and light. These strands could not only treat a patient with drugs and light stimulation, but measure the response with electrodes; you'd know whether or not your medicine is working. The bendy, unintrusive design should also be safe for your body, making it possible to tackle long-term illnesses.

One of the greatest allures of self-driving cars is the prospect of never needing your own vehicle -- you could just catch robotic rides whenever you want personal transportation. Well, Singapore is about to explore how well that concept works in practice. The city (with MIT's help) is opening up one of its neighborhoods to autonomous cars next year to see how well they could eliminate traffic congestion. Ideally, you'll use these driverless vehicles like short-range taxis or Uber cars: hail one whenever you need to get to the airport or train station and keep another privately-owned car off the road. That's particularly helpful in Singapore, where the extreme population density (19,725 people per square mile) has led to strong government incentives for using mass transit.

If a team of researchers from MIT and Texas A&M University have their way, wounded soldiers will have soon have a better chance of survival. The project is a biodegradable gelatin that once injected, helps with blood coagulation, cutting down on blood loss internally. In some trials, the hydrogel decreased the time it took for the blood to clot by 77 percent after it maneuvered into position. The medical solution is still in the testing phase, but once its perfected, researchers hope to see soldiers add preloaded syringes packed with the material to their gear arsenals.

A team of MIT researchers have developed nanoparticle sensors that could eventually be used to monitor tumors or other diseases, as well as act as a tool to diagnose illnesses. These nanoparticles are made of polymer chains that can bind to the sensors a doctor needs. For instance, in the scientists' tests, they used an MRI contrast agent called nitroxide along with Cy5.5, which glows when it encounters vitamin C, as sensors. These individual strands then merge to form the structure you see above, which the researchers call "branched bottlebrush polymer." As you can guess, the bottlebrush polymer the team developed for the study can perform MRI and detect vitamin C, as detailed in their paper recently published in Nature. Since nitroxide grabs electrons from the vitamin and remains inactive in its presence, the scientists don't get confused by the two different signals.

We've spilled buckets of digital ink on headless horse bots, uncanny humanoids and the coming of the robot apocalypse, but there's a softer, more emotional side to these machines. Social robots, as they're referred to, are less mechanized overlords and more emotional-support automatons, providing companionship as well as utility. Robots like these are forcing us to consider how we interact with the technology that we've created.

Under the direction of artist/roboticist Alexander Reben and filmmaker Brent Hoff, a fleet of precious, cardboard BlabDroids, set out to explore the shifting boundaries of human-robot interaction. These tiny, wheeled machines aren't automated playthings, but serious documentarians seeking an answer to a deceptively simple question: "Can you have a meaningful interaction with a machine?" We'll dive deeper into the topic at Expand this weekend, but in the meantime, here's a short Q&A with Reben on an incredibly complex topic.

Using fracking (hydraulic fracturing) to get oil or gas may fulfill energy needs, but it has a nasty impact on the environment. Among other things, it leaves behind extremely salty water. However, scientists at both MIT and the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals have found technology that could soften the blow. Their approach filters output water through multiple stages of electrodialysis, which uses electrical charges to pull salt through a membrane. This wouldn't make the water drinkable, but it would be reusable -- and that, in turn, would reduce or even eliminate the need for fresh water beyond an initial supply. Oil and gas wells wouldn't deprive local communities of nearly as much drinking or farming water, and they wouldn't have to dispose of quite so many contaminated liquids.

Let's face it: colonoscopies are pretty unpleasant. But what if you could eat a spoonful of yogurt to check for cancer rather than enduring that procedure? MIT professor Sangeeta Bhatia is working on engineered bacteria that detects colorectal cancer. After the nanoparticles pass through the digestive system, a urine sample shows results on a reactive paper -- similar to that of a pregnancy test. In addition to being much less invasive, the high-powered yogurt method doesn't require a lab full of equipment, making it an attractive alternative for poor locales. Here's to hoping scientists figure out a better way to get through a root canal next.

Twitter has just awarded MIT's Media Lab with $10 million (to be completed over the course of five years) to pore over, analyze and scrutinize every public tweet ever made, all for the sake of science. This new MIT project called Laboratory for Social Machines (LSM) will study patterns of online communication through social media. The researchers then plan to build data visuals and develop mobile apps and other tools (such as one that journalists can use to monitor trends), based on what they learn from studying the social network. According to Bloomberg, one of the project's major plans is to look into social media's power to generate negative energy a lot better than it does positive energy.